Tank car



TANK CAR Filed Feb. 18, 1964 2 Sheets$heet 1 I NVENTOR 5/2/4 1 ja "a5,

Nov. 1, 1966 c. L. SPEES 3,282,228

TANK CAR Filed Feb. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,282,228 TANK CAR Charles L. Specs, Elrnhurst,IlL, assignor to Union Tank Car Company, Chicago, Iii, a corporation ofNew .lersey Filed Feb. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 345,770 1 (Jliaim. (Cl.105-358) The present invention relates in general to the construction ofstorage tanks and more particularly to storage tanks of the typeincorporated in railway tank cars and the like. It deals specificallywith a storage tank con struction and method of fabrication.

In elongated, generally cylindrical storage tanks such as incorporatedin railway tank cars, for example, it is often desirable to have thebottom of the tank slope toward the center of the car for drainagepurposes. One method of accomplishing this end is to construct the tankby joining two truncated conical plate sections at their bases, afterrotating the sections slightly inwardly about their bases to establish astraight top on the tank. Another construction accomplishing the sameend is illustrated in United States Patent No. 2,011,176. The latterinvolves a complicated tank bottom and underframe structure, as will berecognized.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedmethod of fabricating a storage tank.

It is another object to provide a new and improved method of fabricatinga storage tank incorporating a center drain arrangement.

It is still another object to provide a new and improved method offabricating a railway tank car type storage tank having its bottomsloping toward the center for drainage purposes.

It is yet another object to provide a fabricating method which issimpler and less expensive than those methods heretofore utilized.

It is a further object to provide a new and improved storage tankconstruction incorporating a simple and relatively inexpensive drainarrangement.

The foregoing and other objects are realized in accord ance with thepresent invention by providing a new and improved storage tankconstruction, including a drain arrangement, and its method offabrication. The invention resides in forming two substantially rightcylindrical tank sections from steel plate or the like. Each tanksection is formed so that a gap of predetermined width remains betweenthe longitudinally extending adjacent free edges of the tank section. Atroughed bottom section also formed of steel plate or the like andhaving a width substantially equal to the width of the gap is thenfitted into the gap in each cylindrical tank section and welded inplace.

The troughed bottom sections are identical and are formed with a doubleradius of curvature, the radius of the outer or major curvature portionof each bottom section being substantially equal to the radius ofcurvature of the right cylindrical sections, while the radius of theinner or minor curvature portion is variable along the length of eachbottom section.

The radius of curvature of the inner or minor curvature portion of eachbottom section varies from a relatively small radius adjacent the outerend of the bottom section to a relatively larger radius adjacent theinner end. A widening and deepening trough is provided extending fromthe outer ends of the storage tank toward the center thereof. With thetank in its normally horizontal position, a simple and inexpensivedrainage system is thus provided, with the tank being drained at bottomcenter.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,taken with further objects and advantages there-of, will best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompany drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side-elev-ational view of a railway tank car incorporatinga storage tank embodying features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one of the two substantiallycylindrical tank sections utilized in fabricating the storage tankembodying features of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a bottom section of the tank illustrated inFIGURE 1, prior to being joined to the mating cylindrical sectionillustrated in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged end view taken along line 44 of the bottomsection in FIGURE 3, with portions of the mating cylindrical tanksection shown;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 3 and FIGURE6 is an end view taken along line 66 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGURE 1, a railwaytank car is illustrated generally at It). The tank car 10 includes asubstantially cylindrical tank 11 embodying features of the presentinvention, supported in a well known manner on a pair ofdiagrammatically illustrated railway trucks 12. The tank 11 has a fillertop assembly 15 of well known construction situated atop itsmid-section, and a drain assembly 16 mounted on the bottom of the tank11, at its mid-section.

As has been pointed out, it is in the construction and method offabrication of the tank 11 that the present invention resides. As such,it will be seen that the invention is applicable to storage tanksincorporated in other environments; tank trucks or stationary tankarrangements, for example. Regardless, it is significant that a storagetank 11 having a desirable center drain capacity is simply,expeditiously, and relatively inexpensively constructed, according tothe present invention.

Still referring to FIGURE 1, it Will be seen that the tank 11 isactually comprised of two substantially identical tank half-sections 17and 18 joined at the center line 19 of the tank. The filler top assembly15 and the drain assembly 16 are mounted on the tank 11 at the centerline 1?, as will be recognized. Since the tank half-sections 17 and 13are mirror images of each other, a detailed description of theconstruction and fabrication of the tank half-section 18 will suffice toa description of the construction and fabrication of both sections 17and 18, of course.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, a first step in the method of constructingthe half-section 18 of the tank 11 embodying features of the presentinvention involves forming a rectangular steel plate approximatelysixteen feet long into the virtually completed cylinder 20. This ispreferably accomplished by suitable and well known rolling techniqueswhich form no part of the present invention. The cylinder 20 ispreferably rolled so that it has a diameter of approximately 99 inches,while a gap 21 of approximately 24 inches is left between itslongitudinally extending free edges 22 and 23.

Coincidental with the fabrication of the cylinder 29, a bottom plateillustrated in FIGURE 3 is formed from a steel plate or the like bystamping, for example. The bottom plate 25 is of a length equal to thecylinder 2%), 16 feet in this instance, and of a width substantiallyequal to the width of the gap 21 between the longitudinally extendingfree edges 22 and 23 of the cylinder. In other words, the bottom plate20 is dimensioned to fit precisely in the gap 21 of the cylinder 20.

The construction of the bottom plate 25 is particularly significant tothe present invention and, referring to FIG- URES 3-6, is seen toinclude a center trough portion 26 bracketed by side portions 27. Theside portions 27 are identical in configuration and curved to a radiussubstantially equal to the radius of the cylinder 20. On the other hand,the trough portion 26 is formed with an ever increasing radius from theouter end 28 of the plate to the inner end 29 thereof.

As seen in FIGURES 4-6, the curve of the trough portion 26 proceeds froma relatively small radius adjacent the end 28 of the bottom plate 25 toa relatively large radius at the inner end 29. At its greatest radiusend, however, it will be noted that the trough portion 26 radius isnecessarily smaller than the radius of the cylinder 20. At the sametime, as will also be recognized, the depth D of the trough portion 26increases as the radius of curvature of the trough portion 26 increasesfrom the outer end 28 to the inner end 29 of the plate. The result is awidening and deepening trough approaching the inner end 29 of the bottomplate 25.

With a bottom plate 25 fabricated in the foregoing manner, it isappropriately seated in a suitable construction jig (not shown), inposition to be joined with a mating cylinder 20. The mating cylinder 20is lowered into position in the jig with suitable handling equipment sothat its longitudinally extending free edges 22 and 23 mate with thelongitudinally extending free edges and 36 of the bottom plate section25, as best illustrated in FIG- URE 4. The bottom plate section 25 isthen welded in place in the cylinder 20, as at 37.

When a second cylinder 20 and the bottom plate 25 have been fabricatedand joined in the foregoing manner, generally concave end sections 40are suitably joined by welding or the like to the outer free ends 41 ofeach cylinder 20. The concave end sections 40 are, of course, alsojoined to the outer free end 28 of a corresponding bottom plate 25 atthe same time. With the completion of this operation, the twohalf-sections 17 and 18 of the tank 11 are substantially complete.

The two half-tank sections 17 and 18 are then suit-ably joined bywelding or the like at the inner free edges 45 of the cylinders 20. Atthe same time, of course, the inner free edges 29 of correspondingbottom plates 25 are also welded.

With the tank half-sections 17 and 18 joined in the foregoing manner,suitable provisions are made for mounting the filler top assembly 15 andthe drain assembly 16 on the joined tank half-sections at their junctureline 19. The assemblies 15 and 16 might be mounted on prefabricatedapertures (not shown) or on apertures formed with appropriate techniquesafter the fabrication of the tank 11. They are not described furtherhere since the details of their construction form no part of the presentinvention. Suffice it to say that the top filler assembly 15 is utilizedto introduce stored material to the tank 11, while the material isdrained from the tank 11 for ultimate utilization through the drainassembly 16.

In the present instance, with the tank 11 appropriate-1y mounted onrailway trucks 12, it is ready for operation. In operation, the mirrorimage trough portions 26 in each of the tank half-sections 17 and .18provide a widening and deepening trough from the outer ends of the tank11 toward the center drain assembly 16. Drainage is fast 4 andeffective, be lying the simplicity of the construction of the tank 1 1,as compared with broadly similar draining tank constructions heretoforeutilized.

The simplicity of the construction and fabrication methods for the tank11 embodying features of the present invention assures relatively lowcost factors in the construction of a tank car 10 or the like, ofcourse.

Collaterally, as would be expected, the production time is substantiallyshorter for tank cars 10 of the type incorporating a tank 11 embodyingfeatures of the present invention. This, of course, is merely an addedcost saving factor.

While the embodiment described herein is at present considered to bepreferred, it is understood that various modifications and improvementsmay be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claimsall such modifications and improvements as fall within the true spiritand scope of the invention.

What is desired to be claimed and secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

A center drain storage tank for incorporation in a railway tank car orthe like, comprising: partial cylinder means disposed in substantiallyhorizontal relationship, said partial cylinder means defining a gapalong its bottom between longitudinally extending free edges of thecylinder means, bottom means seated in said gap and secured to said freeedges of the cylinder means, said bottom means defining trough meansextending from adjacent the opposite ends of said cylinder meanssubstantially toward the center thereof, and drain means in said bottommeans in communication with said trough means, said bottom meanscomprising a pair of elongated bottom plates having substantiallyarcuate cross-sectional configurations, each of said bottom platesincluding longitudinally extending outer portions with a predeterminedradius of curvature equal to the radius of curvature of said partialcylinder means and a longitudinally extending inner portion, each innerportion having a constantly increasing radius of curvature from adjacentits outer end to adjacent its respective inner end, whereby said troughmeans constantly deepens from the outer ends of said bottom plates tothe adjacent inner ends of said bottom plates, said bottom plates beingwelded together at adjacent inner ends where said inner portions havetheir greatest radius of curvature.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 846,646 3/1907Brown 360 2,000,819 5/1935 Brukhardt 105-360 2,011,076 8/1935 Prescottl05360 2,513,450 7/1950 CarliSle 105360 2,873,519 2/1959 Milne 294632,948,061 8/1960 Carstens 29-463 3,139,841 7/1964 Krause 105360 ARTHURL. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

MILTON BUCHLER, DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN,

Examiners.

